Statistically Speaking
by Scarabbug
Summary: Tails really isn’t fond of statistics. Especially not when they’re against him. But it’s not like Sonic ever cared about odds anyway. One shot. Sonic X. Set early season 4.


**I've never attempted fic for this fandom before, so don't expect anything stellar. Standard disclaimers apply. ****Reviews and concrit are appreciated. **

**Set during episode Two of Season Three, pre-Blue Typhoon Blast off.

* * *

**

Statistically Speaking.

Statistics.

Urgh.

Tails really isn't fond of statistics. Especially not when they're _against_ him.

He's _good_ with them, sure. He uses them all the time. He knows exactly how much power can be channelled through a single Chaos Emerald, and how much that power is multiplied when you utilise all seven of them together. He can calculate the number of seconds it takes to enter the stratosphere when you're travelling directly upwards at five hundred miles per hour. And he can estimate how many rings Sonic needs to be thrown in order to knock over a giant killer robot, depending on the robot's size, strength and firepower. So sure, Tails knows all about statistics.

But that doesn't mean he _likes_ them.

Because the thing about statistics is that they're just so... indisputable. When they tell you something is true, then it's really, _really_ hard to argue with them, because you know that they're probably making sense. If you fire a rocket at a target, for example, and the statistics say you have only a one in fifty chance of hitting it, then you can't really debate it. It's just the way things are.

Take the new Sonic Power Cannon for example.

Tails has been working on it for weeks (which is a really long time, as far as his experiments go), but he just can't seem to get it _right_. And Sonic keeps bugging him about it (why shouldn't he? It's got his name on it, and he _is _the cannonball, after all), wanting to know if it'll be ready in time, and exactly what it's supposed to do anyway.

And now Tails has only twenty four hours (there's yet _another_ statistic for Tails to deal with) before they go into space and take off after the Metarex. Just twenty-four hours that Tails has in order to get the cannon working just the way he wants it to. And sure, he's got Chris to help him now (which is really great and everything) but Tails is still pretty sure that there is absolutely no way on Mobius that they're going to be able to get the Sonic Cannon working perfectly in such a short length of time.

No way _at all_.

'But you said it's _nearly_ perfect _now_ right?' Sonic is still zipping around the machine the way he usually does, except he's maybe still a tiny bit slower, and asking a few more questions than is normal for him. 'So what's the problem anyways? It's not like you to get stuff wrong.'

'It's not a question of my doing something _wrong_Sonic,_'_He shrugs –an action which seems to encumber his entire body, including both of his tails. 'I just... don't think I can get it working anymore perfectly than it already is, and that's just not perfectly enough. Technology's not infallible, you know.'

'Yeah, I know that, but if you've got it working as good as it'll ever work, and it's _still_ not perfect...' Sonic stops and it takes Tails a moment to realise that he's standing right next to him and looking up at the dials and lights of the huge cannon's surface. He's gotten used to Sonic appearing seemingly out of nowhere over the years, but it's still just peculiar enough to make his tails bristle. '...What more can ya do?'

'Nothing,' Tails admits. 'it's just... I don't think we should be using it if it's not perfect.

Sonic scratches his head. He doesn't get it. Most of the time he doesn't. It's not that Sonic is dumb or anything because he's definitely not, but mechanical physics is just a tad outside of the blue hedgehog's interest range.

'Okay, so define "perfect" for me here. Whaddya mean when you say that, Tails?'

Tails sighs, and tries to think of a way to explain it that won't send everyone's brains reeling in alarm. 'By "perfect" I mean that it has to be working so that every single time you go inside of it, ever

Sonic, the cannon works by utilising your kinetic energy coupled with energy from, say, the Chaos Emeralds anda high powered voltage. It generates it's own power through you, and is supplemented by the gems. This creates an energy build up powerful; enough to blow you out of the end of the cannon at high speed. Just like a cannon ball.

Which sounds kinda cool and all, Sonic grins – though Tails doesn't think that "cool" is especially the right word for it. 'But what's imperfect about it?'

'...You're being shot out of a cannon, Sonic.'

'Yeah, so?'

'SO?' Tails tries not to gawk, but he _is_ kind of surprised. He has known Sonic for... years. For almost as long as he can remember, but he's never really seem him react all that much to danger. Not danger to _himself_ anyway. He just stands there, grins and starts to run. Not away from danger, but towards it. It's that nerve, that boundless optimism, which drew Tails to Sonic in the first place.

But sometimes, it gets just a little... scary.

Because Sonic isn't like Tails –he doesn't even bother to think about statistics. He doesn't much care whether the chances are twenty-to-one or fifty-to-one or a million-to-one. He'll take the risk anyway and he always –always– beats the odds.

With that in mind, Tails sometimes wonders why he still feels so uneasy about statistics. After all, sonic is an expert when it comes to beating the odds.

This time, however, he knows exactly why he's so concerned.

'So.. .so it's not safe, that's what. I get that we face stuff like this on practically a daily basis, Sonic but jeese, firing yorusef

Says you, you designed the thing.

Yeah but...' Tails pauses, realises he can't counteract that point, and sighs. '...yeah, I did. It seemed like a good idea, when I thought I could get it perfect. But now I know I can't, and I know there's a possibility that it could blow _up_ instead of out.'

'So what's your estimate for that happening?'

'My rough guess... you have a nineteen-out-of-twenty odds of it working just as planned... and a one-in-twenty odd of it...not.. .actually ejecting you from the cannon and just... exploding there and then.

'Ohhh.'

Sonic stays quiet for as moment when Tails says that. Which is a little strange. Tails didn't honestly expect much of a reaction from him though because hey, he's Sonic. "Danger" is his middle name.

'One in twenty, right? So that means for the first nineteen times, at most, it's gonna work just fine, but at least one time, I'll... you know...' He mimicked the sound of what Tails figured was supposed to be an explosion. '...Kablooey? And there's no way outta that?'

'Not... exactly. There's just a one-in-twenty chance that it'll happen every time you use it. I mean, it might _never_ happen. Give or take a miss-power or two. And I mean the odds of me miss-firing it, or putting too much power into the shot and sending you hurtling past the target are extremely remote, but...'

'Uh, that's not exactly encouraging, you know.'

'Oops... sorry. But seriously, Sonic. I tried my best, but I've run the simulations over and over and nothing's changed. Every time you use the Sonic cannon, there's a one in twenty possibility that the energy of your spin will fluctuate when it meets the energy of the cannon and the Master Emerald and cause an explosion within the chamber itself. And...'

'And I'll be dead really damn quickly?'

'Um. Yeah. Quickly, even for you, in fact.'

'Whoa. That _is_ quick.'

Sonic isn't joking around when he says that, though someone who knew him less might believe that he was. He was just honestly always genuinely surprised whenever he tried to imagine anything ever being faster than he was.

'So it's really just about taking a chance?'

'...Yeah.' He wasn't going to try and guess where Sonic's train of thought was going, even though he probably could. 'Except that we're _not_ gonna take it, right?'

Why not? It's a tough weapon. I could probably down a Metarex with one shot in that thing.

Tails can feel his face twisting.

'c'mon, Sonic, I don't wanna shoot you out of something that might make you... well...'

'Go kablooey?'

'Yeah. Kablooey.'

Sonic looks at the cannon, then at Tails, then back at the cannon again. He shrugs. 'Hey, if you don't wanna use it, then maybe its better we don't. Still... it's a tough lookin' system. It could probably help a lot, right?'

'...Yeah, maybe.' It could also get you killed, Tails doesn't say, because he knows the words won't really have the desired effect of making Sonic take a step back and actually think about what Tails _knows_ he's going to suggest.

It's one of those few rare moments were Sonic is so completely still that it almost creeps Tails out. Because Sonic doesn't _do_ still. He's _never_ done still. He likes being still about as much as Tails likes statistics.

'One in twenty...' Sonic mutters. 'You know... That's cool with me.'

'...What? You can't be _serious_.'

He is.

Of course he is. He's _Sonic_. And Sonic... well, he might be the kind of person who will check the clock to see if he has time to go for a pizza before running off to save the world, but at the same time, he doesn't make _jokes_ like that. He doesn't make cracks about the possibility of someone (himself) dying.

'Sure I'm serious. I thrive on danger.'

Tails' eyebrow raises in spite of him. 'I thought you thrived on adrenaline and chilli dogs?'

'Yeah, those too, but also on danger. Besides, I've never failed before, right? So what's one more risk?'

'But... It's different this time.'

Different.

Why does Tails have the feeling that he's probably said that before? Duh. Because he has. Several times, in fact. And usually he ends up going along with it anyway, because Sonic _likes_ pushing himself to levels he's never been before and honestly? Tails thinks it's kind of fun, too. To see how far his hero can go.

'... No.' Tails makes up his mind. 'I won't do it. I'm gonna uninstall the firing mechanism for the cannon. I should probably have never even finished it in the first place, it was a crazy idea. I just couldn't help seeing how good you're taking out stuff with the cannonball technique and I thought with a little more power... Aw, forget it. It's too risky, Sonic.'

'What so you'll let me charge off with the Chaos Emeralds but'cha won't let me get shot outta a cannon?' Now it's Sonic's turn to raise an eyebrow – which he does, far more deliberately than Tails did. 'That's some weird logic you got there for a smart kid.'

'Sonic...'

'Look, Buddy, any of us could get into serious trouble while we're out there and not come back, cannon or no cannon. If I have to risk getting my fur singed off to beat those Metarex into the ground? I can deal with that.'

'_Not_ that simple.'

'Why can't it be?'

'Because it's not a question of just getting your fur singed off,' Tails snaps, infuriated. 'It's not just a question of charging at a bad guy and knowing they won't hit you. Because this time I'll be pressing the button and I'll be choosing the power levels and... And it comes down to me, not to _you_. You just have to spin real fast and... And get shot out of the end.'

There is only a second of silence before Tail's feels a hand ruffling the fur atop his head in an old, familiar way.

'Tails, man, there's no one else I'd trust more to do that than you. Don't feel bad. _Nothing's_ perfect. I always kinda liked the idea of doing my own stunts.'

'Oh, ha, _ha_.'

'Yeah, funny, huh?'

...They're going to do it.

In truth, Tails had probably already realised that long ago. That's the way things usually go. He looks at the odds, does all of the mathematics and figures out how things will work. And then Sonic just goes right ahead and blows all of that work out of the water.

'...I'm not sure it's a good idea.'

'Are you kidding? It's your idea, so I'm pretty sure it's a good one. And I've dealt with odds before. Just don't tell Amy about any of this one-in-twenty stuff... In fact, don't tell _anyone_ about it. At all.'

Tails almost drops a diode. '...What, no one? Not even Chris?'

'Yep. Especially not him.'

'But... but...' Tails bites his tongue. 'He's helping me with the firing process, it's a big gun! It takes more than one person to operate!'

'Well in that case he'll probably do a better job if he doesn't know I could go kablooey, right?'

Except that it _would_ be. Tails' fault, that is, and he just can't shake that thought no matter how he tries to.

There's Chris too, of course. And Knuckles to take into account. Sonic can't use the cannon without all three of them doing important jobs at the same time... Tails has thought this through about a million times, but the statistics still say that it just isn't a good idea.

That okay with you, Tails? It's not that I don't think he could handle it or anything, but if they knew then they'd probably freak out or something and I don't want them thinking it's your fault.'

Yeah, that's easy for _him_ to say. He won't have to deal with the fallout if that "one in twenty" possibility ever occurs. He'll have been blown to smithereens. Gone. Forever.

Tails swallows the lump in his throat. 'I don't... know.'

'Okay, then we'll just use it nineteen times and stop there.'

'It doesn't _work_ that way, Sonic.'

'Then we'll make it work that way,' Sonic grins and...

What _is it _about that grin which totally overrides every statistic buzzing around in Tails' brain?

'So, what do ya say? Care to take it for a test run?'

He should say no. It's not safe. It's not a good idea. There's a statistic that says they might not get away with it and...

...Oh, what the hell. 'Okay, let's do it!'

Tails may not be crazy about statistics, but it's not like Sonic ever cared about odds anyway.

* * *


End file.
